Gordon W. Cowden, 51

Gordon W. Cowden's family released this statement:

"Loving father, outdoorsman and small business owner, Cowden was a true Texas gentleman that loved life and his family. A quick witted world traveler with a keen sense of humor, he will be remembered for his devotion to his children and for always trying his best to do the right thing, no matter the obstacle."

Jessica Ghawi, 24

Jessica Ghawi grew up a hockey fan in football-crazed Texas.

She followed that passion to Colorado to forge a career in sports journalism. It probably took her to Toronto, where just weeks ago, she walked out of a shopping-mall food court moments before a gunman shot seven people.

Matt McQuinn, 27

Matt McQuinn died protecting his girlfriend.

As a gunman calmly walked up the aisle of an Aurora movie theater Friday firing at moviegoers, the 27-year-old Ohio native dived on top of Samantha Yowler. Her brother Nick, 32, also tried to shield her, said Robert L. Scott, attorney for the McQuinn and Yowler families.

Veronica Moser-Sullivan, 6

Veronica Moser-Sullivan will always be 6 years old.

The "vibrant, excitable," blond-haired, blue-eyed little girl, who was bragging five days ago about learning how to swim, was one of the 12 people killed in the Aurora theater shooting Friday, said her great-aunt Annie Dalton.

Alex Teves, 24

A friend, identified only as Caitlin on Twitter, posted messages on the social media network early Friday from the Century Aurora 16 theater, and wrote on Twitter early Saturday that Alex Teves was, "One of the best men I ever knew. The world isn't as good a place without him." She also described Teves as a fan of the University of Arizona and Spider-Man.

Remembering the victims

Brain samples stolen from Indiana medical museum

INDIANAPOLIS—A man who allegedly stole human brain samples from a medical history museum was arrested after a California man who bought some of the tissue online alerted authorities.

David Charles, 21, was arrested Dec. 16 after investigators were tipped off by a San Diego man who became suspicious about six jars of brain tissue he'd bought on eBay for $600.

Charles faces theft and other charges. It was not immediately clear whether he has an attorney.

Marion County court documents allege Charles broke into the Indiana Medical History Museum several times over the past year and stole jars of preserved human tissues, including brain samples, from long-dead psychiatric patients.

The museum is on the grounds of a former state psychiatric hospital, Central State Hospital, which closed in 1994. The museum's director said the tissues are from autopsies spanning from roughly the 1890s to the 1940s.

"A museum's mission is to hold these materials as cultural and scientific objects in the public interest. To have that disturbed—to have that broken—is extraordinarily disturbing to those of us in the museum field," the museum's executive director, Mary Ellen Hennessey Nottage, told The Indianapolis Star (http://indy.st/1bBgS2u ).

Indianapolis police had investigated several break-ins at the museum's storage facility before the San Diego man helped lead police to Charles.

Advertisement

That man called the Indianapolis museum after noticing labels on the containers that he bought on eBay, court documents state.

Indianapolis police detectives traced the transactions and eventually spoke to the seller. Police said that seller had obtained the brain matter from Charles.

Charles was arrested during a police sting after the eBay middleman arranged a meeting in a parking lot. Court documents state that the day before his arrest, Charles had stolen 60 jars of human tissue from the museum.

Nottage, who said she's grateful much of the stolen material has been returned. She also said she spoke to the San Diego man who bought the six jars.